The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with the public on Wednesday, April 29, from 7-10 p.m. to discuss proposed decommissioning activities at the Humboldt Bay Power Plant Unit 3, a permanently-closed nuclear power plant near Eureka, Calif.

The meeting will be held at the Eureka Inn, 518 7th Street, Eureka. All interested citizens are invited to attend and participate in the discussion. A sign-up period will begin at 6:30 p.m. for anyone wishing to make comments to the NRC during the meeting or obtain a transcript afterward.

The NRC will present a discussion of the regulatory procedures that must be followed and provide an opportunity for interested members of the public to comment on the February 27 update to the Humboldt Bay Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report. This report details decommissioning activities to date and is available at the NRC Local Public Document Room in the Humboldt County Library.

PG&E, the owner of the Humboldt Bay Power Plant, will describe the decommissioning program that has been proposed.

The Humboldt Bay plant began operating in 1963 and was permanently shut down in 1976. In 1985 it was placed in "SAFESTOR," one of the decommissioning options authorized by the NRC that mothballs the plant for a period of 30 years before dismantlement and cleanup. PG&E has proposed to begin the final steps earlier than planned.

Plans include moving used nuclear fuel, which is currently stored in a spent fuel pool at the plant, to steel containers, called dry cask storage. This storage option would be temporary until the used fuel can be moved to a permanent spent fuel repository. The remainder of the plant would be dismantled and the site cleaned up after the used fuel is safely removed.